Hunted
by Starling Rising
Summary: Daine has a run in with the royal huntsmen while in deer shape.
1. Chapter 1

"Let's go out and try shape shifting again, magelet," said Numair when Daine came to his rooms for her lesson.

Daine was apprehensive about changing shape again, she could still remember the last time she had taken wolf- shape to catch Yolane, and didn't want to repeat the experience.

"But Numair, we just got back to Corus two weeks ago, and I'm still, um, tired, from the trip," she replied. "Why don't we try it again some other time, when I've settled back into my routine and-"

"But magelet, I think you've had enough time to get back into your routine, since it _has_ been over a month since you last tried to change. I think you just expect it to go badly because of last time you tried it." Daine opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off again by her teacher.

"But I assure you, it isn't nearly as bad the second time you try it, you're merely sore for a few days; it isn't anything to worry about. You wouldn't keep your poor teacher waiting, would you?" He motioned out the window toward the forest.

"Are you sure it won't be like last time?" Daine looked up at Numair and tried to hide the fear in her eyes.

"I'm positive, Daine, I know from personal experience. In fact, you recovered faster than anyone in recorded history. Two weeks is an unheard of time for being in bed after shifting. The quickest known is Faunus of Interesque, who only took a month to get out of bed, but he died soon after from complications… There was a Nelery of Ickenham who recovered after a month and three days, who lived until-" Daine coughed, trying to get his attention. This particular list wasn't doing anything to help her confidence, and she wanted to just get on with it.

"How about we just go out there and try it?" She said. He looked at her apologetically.

They walked down to the edge of the forest and stopped under a shady tree, sitting down in its impressive shadow.

"So, magelet, what shape do you wish to try today. We know you can do a wolf and a horse, so I think we should try something else now. Of course, the decision is up to you,"

" Hmmm, I don't really want to try being a wolf again. But what should I change into?" she looked up into the branches of the tree thoughtfully. There are so many different animals…"

"Well," the man began, "since you were mainly a predator last time, maybe you should try a prey animal this time. Just to get a view from both sides."

"Maybe a deer?"

A slow grin spread across his face. "A fantastic choice, magelet. Shall we try it now or go farther into the forest before you attempt a change."

"Let's go further in, so nobody can see us. I don't want to scare anyone."

They walked into the woods along the path for a good Quarter-hour, then decided it would be best if they went off of the path and find a more secluded place for Daine to put her clothes in case a traveler happened by when she changed back.

"This is good," she said when they came to a small clearing.

Numair smiled at her in encouragement._ He always seems to know just what I need, _she thought as her stomach began to flutter. _Here I go!_ She filled her mind with cloven hooves, sweet grass, large black eyes, and everything she could think of about deer.

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Numair saw standing, where his student had been a moment before, a spindly legged doe, which came over to him and tentatively stuck her nose into his hand. He stroked her neck gently, marveling at how soft her coat was.

Daine walked over to her teacher and hesitated before putting her nose into the palm of his hand. He didn't seem to mind, reaching up and running his free hand down her neck. She shivered and then looked at him before nodding her head in the direction of the woods surrounding them. He removed his hand, much to Daine's chagrin, and nodded.

She turned and bounded off into the woods, trying to find a herd of deer to spend the day with. Along the way she spoke with the People she passed, stopping for conversation if they wanted to talk. After doing this for about an hour, she was cropping a particularly sweet patch of grass when she heard the clear call of a hunting horn pierce the silence. She tensed; that cal meant that the hounds had caught a scent. Frantically, she scrambled to find the location of the hunting party. She finally found them, and discovered that it was her they were after. She tried to reason with the dogs, trying to get them to leave her alone, but she couldn't get past the cloud of blood-lust in their minds.

She tried for a longer time than she probably should have, and then wheeled aroud and ran. She tried everything she could thinkof to get rid of the hunt, but the royal hounds weren't the best in the realm for nothing. She ran through streams, doubled back on herself, and even shut off her wildmagic in hopes they would be less able to sense her. She didn't know how long she had been running when she realized how tired she was. She knew her pace was slowing, and that they were gaining on her. She knew that she would keep going until she dropped, and that time was approaching fast.

Numair sat in the clearing wondering where Dainewas. She had been gone for far too long, in his opinion. He comforted himself with the thought that she had probably just gotten caught up in talking with another animal and lost track of time.

Suddenly, a clearly terrified doe shot through the clearing. Following after it was the royal hunting party. It only took Numair a minute to figure out what had happened. He shot off after them, trying to catch up and knowing he probably wouldn't make it in time.

He was right, when he finally caught up with the riders, they wre standing in a circle around hhis unclothed student. _And they're staring like heathens, too, _he thought with an unexplainable surge of rage. He managed to push his way inot the middle of the circle and drape his cloak over her prone form. It seemed to break the hunters out of the trance they had been, and the stammered apologies began.

" Please, master Numair- If we'd known-"

"We didn't know it was the wildmage, honest sir-"

"Your mageness-"

He cut them all off with a look. He turned to the nearest rider, "Get me a healer. Ride as hard and as fast as that horse can manage, and bring me the best healer you can find, _now._"

With a last terrified look back at the livid mage, the young man galloped off.


	2. Chapter 2

Numair paced outside the door of the healer's wing. Luckily, the dogs had refused to attack the wildmage, but several of the hunters had shot her to bring her down. She had come out with mostly scratches where they had missed, but one of them had gotten lucky and now she had an arrow embedded in her thigh. He sighed, they had managed to get her back to the castle in one piece by using his magic as a stretcher, but the damn thing would bounce with every step he took, as he dictated where it went with his hand, and she would occasionally groan when he stumbled or took an over-long step.

He had now been waiting for some hours outside of her room in the Healers wing while Duke Barid and several others worked on her. He turned in his pacing and found himself face to face with the Lioness.

"When was the last time you ate, Master Mage?" She enquired in entirely too polite a tone.

He thought for a moment. "This morning, for breakfast, but Alanna, I 'm not-" she cut him off.

"Then we should go down to dinner," she said and promptly started to drag him by the hand to the mess hall. He balked.

"NO! I can't go and just leave her here with all those healers! What if she wakes up and I'm not here? What if she thinks I abandoned her? She needs me to be there, Alanna, and I'm not leaving." He protested.

"You give yourself too much credit, Numair. She won't have a fit if she wakes up and you're not there," Alanna replied.

This hurt more than it should. The idea of Daine not caring if he was there or not when she woke up was not a good thought. HE had always taken it for granted that his magelet would want him there to comfort her, but that wasn't necessarily true. She could find his presence dull, or worse, downright annoying. He vowed to stay away except for lessons, just in case.

Alanna led a strangely mollified Numair to the kitchens, wondering what had gotten into him. She had thought it would take much more persuasive arguments to make him leave Daine.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey! I only just realized that that the whole of Chapter two of Hunted didn't upload! So, this is the rest of it, hope you all like it! _

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When Daine woke up, she was alone. This was something new for her, because unless he was asleep too, Numair had always been there to make sure she was alright. She tried to sit up and was stopped by a sharp pain in her thigh. She looked under the blankets and found that her leg was wrapped in a bandage from her knee to the top of her thigh. Seeing this made her remember the events that had led to the injury.

_She was running as fast as she could, trying her hardest to just take one more breath, one more stride. It was getting much harder. They were catching up. Suddenly a fiery pain erupted in her leg. She stumbled, lost her balance, and fell, hitting the ground as a human. _Funny,_ she had thought, _I should have just changed back in the first place,_ and then the world faded to black._

She shivered at the memory and fell back on to the pillows behind her. She wanted Numair. He could always manage to find ways to fight the dullness of sitting in a bed all day long, either by teaching her about some new animal she had never heard of or just talking with her. She sank into a restless doze.

Daine woke to the sound of footsteps in the hallway. They stopped outside her door, and she saw the handle turn. She sat up as best she could, hoping to see the long form of her teacher come in, but was disappointed to see that it was only Alanna.

"Oh, good, you're awake," she commented, "you had me worried for a moment there, youngling."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Two days, it's just after the dinner bell."

"Oh,"

"Diane?" asked Alanna, "What is it? Usually I can't get you to stay in your rooms, let alone your bed." At her silence, Alanna gave her a closer look. "What's wrong?" she asked in a gentle voice.

"Nothing," the reply was much too quick.

"Alright then, I'll let you get some rest. Just let me change that bandage."

When she was done, Alanna went outside to dig Numair out of his workroom. He'd been locked in there for the past day or so, and she'd only seen him at meals. If anyone could figure out what was bothering Daine, it was the lanky mage.

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Numair looked up at the sound of knocking on his door. He had found something to do today as a means of distracting himself, but keeping his mind in his work wasn't easy. Already he had botched three experiments, two reports, and spilled ink on the piece of cake he had brought back from lunch. Of them all, the ruining of the cake was the most grievous. It was his favorite kind, a Carthaki delicacy, and the cooks had stopped making it after he had been banned from the kitchens unless it had been specifically requested.

"Numiar, Open this door! I know you hear me!" the lioness said through the door.

He reluctantly got up and answered the door, letting her in and shutting the door behind her.

"Daine is up and something's wrong with her. Usually she protests being restricted to the bed but when I went in she just asked how long had she been asleep and looked distant. Go talk to her and see what's wrong." She then grabbed his hand and towed him out into the hallway and to the healer's wing.

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Daine looked up at the sound of the door opening. Along with Alanna, two healers, a cat, and Onua had come through the door since she woke up, and she was happily surprised when Numair walked in, being dragged by Alanna.

"Where were you?!" she demanded. "I thought you had gone and blown yourself up and they weren't telling me because I was hurt."

Alanna smiled. It was as she had thought; Daine had just been missing her teacher. Although sometimes, like now, she wondered if a teacher was all she thought of him as.

Numair went over and sat on the bed beside Daine, taking her hand.

"How is your leg?" he asked. "It looked rather gruesome when I brought you in."

"Better," she answered. "It twinges though. And I can't sit up."

"I can't do anything about the twinging, but I can certainly prop you up," he said, grinning. He leaned over her, grabbing the pillows on the other side of the bed, and straightened back up, supporting her with his arm as he arranged the pillows behind her.

"Is that any better magelet?" he inquired.

"Yes,' She sighed as she sank back. "I'm fine now."

He turned just in time to see her smile contentedly and look up at him from under her eyelashes before her eyes fluttered closed and she went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

_ Hey! Hopefully you guys liked last chapter, this is the new one! I'm not sure how much longer this story is going to last, but I'll try to update _something_ regularly. I'd like to thank my reviewers, and hopefully some of you other people will leave me one? Oh well, I'm just happy someone's reading it!_

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Numair left Daine after she fell asleep to go and find something to eat. He'd sat beside her for a couple of hours and had gotten hungry. He made his way down to the kitchens, hoping he could get something out of one of the maids before the cook saw him and threw him out. 

He made his way to the door, saw the cook bustling around in plain sight, and sighed. He wasn't in the mood to charm his way into some food for himself and Daine. But then his stomach growled loudly, informing him that walking away was not an option. He motioned to a maid that happened to be walking by, hoping he might be lucky and that she wouldn't lose all brain power in the knowledge she was talking to a black robe.

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Daine sat straight up in her infirmary bed, and sighed in relief at the realization that she was in the healer's wing and not being hunted again after all. However, she couldn't get her breathing to slow down, and her heart was beating hard against her ribs. She found herself wanting nothing more than one of Numair's hugs to calm her nerves, but quickly banished the thought as being babyish. She would just take a deep breath… there. That was much better. 

She looked around the room, and found it empty. _Gone twice in one_ _day?_ She thought. _He must be just around the corner getting something to eat, or getting a book. He'll be back in a moment._

She settled back down into her blankets to wait, hoping he managed to find some food before the cook saw him and threw him out of the kitchens.

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Numair was having a hard time with this particular maid. All he wanted was some rolls, butter, some meat, and maybe some drinks. The kitchen girl, however, had decided that he wanted something other than food. 

"Why don't you just come back into the kitchen, Master Numair? I'm sure we could find you _something._" she said with a suggestive smile.

He shook his head. At this point, he'd rather have one of the brainless ones. "I just want some lunch, truly. And you probably know I'm not allowed into the kitchens."

"That will just make it more fun."

Numair gave up. With a wave of his hand, three rolls, three pieces of cheese, Some meat, and a pitcher of juice all came floating over into his outstretched hand.

"I should be leaving," he said. He turned around, and started to walk off, until he heard the maid say:

"When you get tired of that Wildmage of yours, come to me. I'll make it worth your while."

If Daine hadn't been waiting for him in the infirmary, he would have blasted her where she stood. He had always regretted how his reputation affected how people perceived his relationship with his student. Now, when she was recovering from a wound and there was no way she was in any shape to do that sort of thing anyway, and there was no one around, he found it very hard to control his temper. It was a miracle that he managed to turn and walk back to the healer's wing.

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Daine was getting worried. She had been waiting for almost twenty minutes, and she knew fair well that it didn't take that long to get some food. She knew she was being silly, but her dream and being in an unfamiliar place had made her apprehensive. 

The door swung open, making her jump, and Numair backed into the room, carrying a plate-full of lunch. He sat the tray down on to the bed-side table, and turned to look at her. Seeing the hidden pleading and residual fear in Daine's eyes, he sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Bad dreams, Magelet?" He murmured into her hair.

All she could do was nod. She rested against his chest, trying not to cry, and waited as his embrace worked its wonders on her strained nerves.

He pulled away after a while, and wordlessly offered her the tray of food. She helped herself, and they finished their meal in a comfortable silence.

When they were done, a healer walked into the room to check Daine over. He came to the side of the bed and pulled down the sheets, running his hand gently up her thigh and over the wound. Diane was surprised to notice black fire start to crackle around her teacher, but it disappeared after a split second and she was left wondering if she'd imagined the whole thing.

"Her leg is healed enough that she can move out of the Wing, but she can't stay in her own room for a bit as it's too far away and she shouldn't be walking on it so soon," the healer pronounced.

"She can stay in the rooms next to mine," Numair said. He would have liked it if she could have stayed with him so he could keep an eye on her, but the kitchen maid's statement was still ringing in his ears.

The Healer conceded that it was a good idea, and said Numair could carry her up to the spare set of rooms as soon as she was ready.

"I'm ready now!" was Daine's reply, causing Numair to grin.

"Alright, magelet, Let me go and get the rooms ready for you, and then I'll take you up there."

He was gone for almost an hour, in which Alanna came to visit and was told about the plans. She approved, and kept Daine company until Numair came to get her.

When he came, he put one of his arms under Daine's back and the other beneath her bent knees. With a glance in her direction to make sure she was ready, he lifted her gently off of the bed.

Daine couldn't ever remember being so high off the ground. She wrapped her arms around Numair's neck as Alanna laughed at the look on her face.

"I never realized how tall you were!" said Daine as an explanation. The mage chuckled, his laugh rumbling in his chest, and walked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Daine looked up at the sound of a knock on her door. "Come in!" she called.

Numair came into the room, bearing a trey of food and a stack of books. He set his burdens down on the bedside table and sat himself on the bed next to Daine's thigh. He then gently took the book she had been reading out of her hands, putting a finger in it so she would not lose her page. He knew how irritating that could be.

"I have brought you some refreshments," he said, grinning, "and a lesson. If you are not too tired, that is. If you are, we can postpone it until you feel better."

"I'm fine, Numair. I've been fine for almost three days now. I'm up for a lesson, even if you don't think so," she said reproachfully. "In fact, I'm almost bored to tears. So please give me a lesson. Now." Truth be told, Daine needed someone to talk to more than anything. She had no windows, and her door was closed all day, so the cats and dogs of the palace couldn't get in to lay with her. Alanna, Onua, Buri, and Numair came when they could, but Alanna had been sent to some fief or another to fight stormwings, Onua had to work with the ponies all day, and Numair…

"What are you thinking of, magelet?" he asked, watching her face. "I think I must be rubbing off on you; you just went off and stared into space." He thought for a moment, then sighed. "Maybe you aren't well enough for a lesson. I could come back tomorrow-"

"No!" Diane reached and grabbed his hand before she stopped to think about it, giving the cut on her leg a painful wrench. Numair watched as she grimaced in pain and sat back against her pillows, breathing hard. She still held his hand and squeezed it painfully.

"Magelet, are you alright?" he asked, scooting closer to her and cupping her face with his large hand. She nodded, and let his hand go almost reluctantly. He looked into her eyes for another moment, then sat up and began their lesson like nothing had happened.

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Numair stayed with her for the rest of the day, teaching her, and, when they were done with that, talking to her. Eventually, though, he had to leave for dinner. She watched him go wistfully, wishing he didn't have to eat.

She was reading her book again when she heard a noise coming from next door. It sounded like something heavy was falling off of a table, and she wondered what Numair was up to. A few moments later she heard a distinctly female groan coming from the direction of his room. Diane felt herself blush and tried not to listen, but they were _loud._ Unfortunately, she knew what they were doing and found she was more bothered by it than she would be hearing anyone else in the room next to hers. After half an hour of trying to ignore them, she decided she was tired and settled in to try to sleep.

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She slept late the next morning, and was awoken by a healer coming in to check her leg. When he was done, he told her that she should be able to get up and walk a little on her own, but not to push it too much.

Numair came in later, looking very pleased with himself, and sat down next to her on the bed. "Good morning, magelet. How are you doing?"

Daine found she couldn't look at her teacher. She knew he had a reputation for taking court ladies to bed, but she had never experienced it so close at hand.

"Daine?" he said, taking her hand and dipping his head in an attempt to see her face. "What's the matter? You haven't been this shy since we first met."

"Nothing," she said quickly. The only thing worse than hearing him in his room with one of his…friends was to have to admit that she had and that she was bothered by it.

"Daine, why won't you tell me? I thought we were past this." He sounded so sad, just like when she had been faking her lessons for fear of losing herself. She hated disappointing him, but she was not going to say a word about something like this.

"I'm just tired," she replied. "The healer came up here and checked my leg. He made me a little sleepy so it wouldn't hurt." It wasn't a lie, she told herself; she had just failed to mention that the healer had woken her back up when he was done. She looked up at Numair, to find an odd expression on his face. He almost looked angry, and she couldn't imagine why.

"Was it the same healer that checked you before?" he asked.

"Yes, Duke Baird put him in charge of me once he was sure I wasn't going to die."

"All right, magelet, you can go to sleep. Do you want me to stay or leave?"

It was a strange question. "I'll be asleep, so I don't think I'll know either way." He started to get up. "But I wish you would stay, even though it'll be fair boring, watching me sleep."

"I'll stay, Daine. I have nothing else to do," he chuckled.

She was just drifting into a cloudy dream when she heard Numair get up and go to the door. He opened it and let someone in. Diane heard the swish of skirts and a giggle, quickly shushed by Numair.

"She's sleeping!"

"So this is your student," said a rather giggly female voice. "You talk so much about her. I wondered if I would ever get to see her. There isn't much to look at, is there?"

"Yes, she is smaller than you would think, isn't she." Daine wasn't sure if he was ignoring the other meaning in her voice or if he hadn't heard it in the first place.

"Why is she up here?" the woman asked. "Doesn't she usually sleep down in the stables with the animals?" The way she said it made it sound as if she were sneaking into the men's barracks and crawling into bed with them. Why was letting her friends in to keep her warm so inappropriate? The most they ever did was leave a little fur on her night shirt.

"She was recently involved in an accident with the royal huntsmen. She was in deer shape and was understandably mistaken for a doe and brought down with a wound to the leg. Her rooms were too far for the healers to come if the wound reopened, and so they put her up here where we could keep an eye on her," explained Numair.

"Why don't you keep an eye on me instead?" the lady said, and Daine heard what could only be kissing. This went on for a while, and she eventually fell asleep.

Daine woke up a little while later and rolled over, opening her eyes. She wished she hadn't. Numair was sitting in the chair with the lady in his lap, happily nuzzling her neck. Daine choked back a gasp and turned over as quickly as she could, not caring if he saw. She heard a rustle, then a yelp of surprise.

"She's awake! You have to leave," Numair whispered fiercely.

"I don't want to leave, I'm sure she won't mind," came the lady's voice, short of breath.

"She will mind!" She could tell Numair was getting irritated. "You're not supposed to be here! Go!"

After a pause, she said, "If I leave now, you won't see me again; surely _I _am more important than your _student."_

"Out. Now. I never should have brought you here in the first place," Numair growled. She heard the woman stalk out of the room and Numair turn around. He sat on the bed beside her, though not as close as he usually would have.

"Daine, I apologize. I had no intention of that sort of thing happening. Had I been aware of the situation I would not have brought her here." His voice was soft and slightly pleading, and she could imagine the look on his face, but she couldn't find it in her to forgive him. Not yet. She stayed silent.  
"In fact, magelet, I only brought her here because she expressed an interest in you. We were talking of your powers and she asked how you were doing. I suggested a visit on the supposition that you were awake. We came in and found you asleep. Things just went downhill from there." The last sentence was said in a self-conscious murmur, Numair seeing that he was gaining no ground at all with his explanation. He sighed.

"I guess I will see you when I bring you dinner, Daine." He patted her shoulder, and she felt him rise. He stood there for a moment, watching her, then turned and walked dejectedly out of the room. She could tell all this by the sound of his footsteps on the floor; she hadn't turned around at all since she had woken up. It was bad enough that she had to hear them, but now she had to see them too? It hurt her that Numair would do things like that; he was too good to be frolicking around with women that did that sort of thing.

_Daine_ tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't relax at all. She tried talking to the animals, but she ended up getting snappish with them and making them nervous. In the end, she decided to read her book, because at least then she could concentrate on concentrating rather than on what had happened.

She had finished a page and a half by dinnertime, and she was about to give up completely when a knock sounded on her door. She tensed. It was probably Numair with dinner, but she didn't want to see him yet. If it was him, she would most likely explode at him, and that was not a good thing.

"Come in," she called. To her relief, it was Onua, with supper.

"I decided to bring you dinner since you and Numair seem to be in an argument. I was hoping you would tell me something _about_ it, _since_ he won't talk to anyone."

"If he won't say anything, then how do you know I'm mad at him?" Daine asked.

"Oh, so it is true! He's been walking around like a ghost. It reminded me of the time when you were faking your lessons because you thought you were going to go mad, and were lying to him. This time it was much worse, of course, but you've known each other longer and have gotten closer. Also, When I went up to ask him if you were having problems, he flinched violently and walked away. I think he went to his rooms, nobody has seen him since."

_Daine _sighed and looked at the whorl of sheets in her lap. "It all started last night an hour or so after he brought me my dinner…" Diane told the whole story to Onua, sparing no details, and by the end of her tale she was sobbing into Onua's shoulder.

"I don't know why I'm being such a –sniff- baby, it's no business of mine who he takes to his rooms and… and…" she broke off to let a few more tears fall. "It just bothers me that he does things like that. I don't know why…" Onua held her until she had calmed down, and then let her go so she could eat. She had her suspicions about why Daine was so bothered by the fact that Numair took women to his bed, but she wasn't going to say anything.

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Meanwhile, Numair was in his rooms, on the bed, a speaking spell to Alanna in his open palm. "She was so upset! I didn't think that Asta would act in such an appalling fashion! Shewas so sweet at dinner last night, and ,well…"

"Good in bed?" Alanna asked. Seeing his blush, she added, "You have no need to spare my innocence Numair, I am a married woman."

"I know, but that is a very personal matter, and-"

"Not when it's something like this, Numair," Alanna interrupted. "I think you should apologize, at least. Daine is probably hurting right now. You've betrayed her trust."

"I am aware of that, Alanna. She probably puts me in with the men who courted her mother." Alanna opened her mouth to protest, but Numair interrupted "You're right, Alanna, I have betrayed her. What I have done is completely unacceptable and I should go apologize right away." He took a deep breath. "But I won't, because I can't bear to see the look on her face when I walk into the room. She'll hate me now." He leaned over and put his elbows on his knees, resting his face in one of his hands. "What am I going to do?"

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Look, I _know _it's been a long time. I have a very good excuse, which you can find on my profile. However, I have returned, and you can expect semi-regular updates now. You can tell me how happy that makes you in a review:) 


	6. Chapter 6

Numair leaned against the wall and sighed. He was standing across the hallway from a wooden door, bound with steel and furnished with an unlocked deadbolt. It was an unassuming and ordinary door, but he looked at it as if to touch it would be the death of him.

It was what was behind the door that made his heart pound with nervousness and made his large hands tremble. He wasn't sure he could do what he knew he had to, which was open it and face the small, angry, and injured girl on the other side. He could barely stand the thought of her face upon his walking in, so how was he supposed to actually go in and confront it?

Footsteps sounded down the hallway, coming in his direction. Numair ignored the sound, trying to work up the courage to just open the door…

"Are you _still_ here?" A dark skinned woman had just come around the corner, holding a tray of food for Daine. "Honestly, Numair, you've been here for hours! It doesn't take that much to go in there and face _Daine_, does it? You've known her for how long now? Two years?"

"One and a half," mumbled the mage, crossing his arms. Buri didn't understand! He had probably made the worst mistake of his life! She probably hated him now. If only he had shown some self control and said no to that, that…

"Numair. Stop... Being... Such... An... Idiot. Just go in there! Besides, I'll bet she knows you're out here, staring at her door. And you've also probably over thought going in there, turning it into some kind of nightmare." She looked at him, and he hung his head, knowing she was right.

"Good. Now, you are going to take Daine her lunch, and you are going to take it to her right now. Do you hear me? You wouldn't want your student to starve, would you?" He shook his head guiltily; he had been sent up here with Daine's breakfast, but hadn't been able to go in the room. " I didn't think so." She shoved the tray into his hands and turned him around, giving him a small push toward the door.

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Daine was _hungry_. She had somehow never gotten breakfast and was now hoping that someone would take pity on her and bring some lunch. She sunk further into the pillows, trying to silence the rumbles in her stomach.

A knock sounded at the door, before the knob turned and the door opened. The smell of stew and freshly baked bread reached her nose, and her stomach growled again. Then Numair walked into the room, carrying the tray that the delicious smells were coming from.

He stopped when he saw her looking at him. She met his eyes. Then her stomach growled again, and his face broke into a smile.

"Magelet, you seem hungry." He came over to the bed and sat the tray on her lap. She wasted no time in starting to eat the food, and Numair felt a pang of guilt for letting her get so hungry because of his fears.

Once Daine had gotten some food in her empty stomach, she glanced shyly up at her teacher. He was still sitting beside her on the bed, carefully looking anywhere but her face. She reached out and touched his hand, and his eyes went to hers.

"I'm sorry I got so mad at you, Numair," she said, looking down. "I was more surprised than anything else."

He gently picked up the hand that was still resting on his, and said, "You shouldn't be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have brought her in here. I just wanted you to meet her, she seemed so nice…"

"Well, we've all misjudged other people before. She most likely just wanted to impress you; most of the ladies don't like me, running about in breeches and talking with the animals as I do. They all think I'm not respectable."

"Don't listen to people you've never met, magelet. How can they make a sound judgment if they barely even know what you look like?" he said, squeezing her hand. He knew almost as well as she did the horrible rumors directed at his magelet. He tried to shield her from the worst of them, but he had found out the hard way that being too protective of his student only made things worse.

"Yes, but sometimes it's hard to ignore if your best friend is kissing one of the ladies who make fun of you five feet away from where you are."

"She was one of the people who spread rumors about you?" he asked, suddenly urgent.

"Well, yes," she replied, surprised that he hadn't known. "When I came up to you at dinner after healing that fox in the forest all afternoon, and I had blood on my shirt? "

"You were telling me that you were going to change and come back, for dinner, but that you were too tired for lessons," he said, remembering.

Daine nodded. "When I was going to my rooms through that shortcut in the gardens, I caught them talking about me. I didn't want them to see me so I turned around and went the long way."

"Is that why you took so long?" he asked. "You know you had me worried."

" Yes"

"Oh, magelet, I'm sorry! If I had known-" She cut him off with a gesture.

"But you didn't. Even if she was talking about me, she might have been nice. Besides, you're a big man, you can make your own choices. Sometimes I wish you would get to know them first, though."

"I'll try magelet," he whispered, pulling the hand he still held to bring her into a tight embrace. "I've been living like a university student too long. It's time I grew up a little, don't you think?"

"Not too much, Numair, I like your boyish charm," she teased.

He rested his chin on her head, glad to have his student back.

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Onua shut the door. She, Buri, and the queen had seen the whole scene play out.

"I told him it wouldn't be the end of the world," said Buri.

"Look at them," whispered Thayet. "They could be lovers."

"They do seem suited for each other, but I don't think it'll ever happen." Onua remarked.

"You're right, it'll probably never happen."

* * *

_Alright, you guys that's the last of Hunted. If you want more from me you can check out my other stories. thanks for all your support and I hope you'll stay with me!_

_Starling_


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